Better than the Alternative (Warriors 108, Suns 98)

In the course of a month, the Warriors have gone from knocking off contenders to fretting over whether they can secure a home win against the West’s worst team. The good news? The Warriors won, defeating the Suns 108-08 to end their six-game losing streak. The bad news? It was quite a struggle.

Mark Jackson and pretty much anyone else with a passing interest in this team knew that the Warriors’ Wednesday night match-up against Phoenix was a must-win game. Jackson laid out the challenge publicly before the game and, at least in terms of energy, his team responded. After the listless performance against the Jazz, it was encouraging to see the Warriors play with a collective sense of urgency. That said, the urgency only occasionally translated to well-executed basketball.

The Warriors jumped out to an early lead thanks to Klay Thompson’s hot shooting. Jarrett Jack, Stephen Curry and David Lee all took turns over the course of the game making big shots. Andrew Bogut came up with a few crucial defensive plays and served as a distributor when the game bogged down in the fourth quarter. But despite solid nights from their five leading players, the Warriors repeatedly failed to deliver a knock-out blow against the lottery-bound Suns. Each Warriors run seemed to be undercut after a few possessions by lackluster defense or unforced errors. The Suns likewise make mistake after mistake, but the Warriors never managed to capitalize on them to put the game out of reach. There was always a silly foul or uncontested three to help the Suns claw their way back into the game.

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Those looking for a clean break with the team’s play during the losing streak didn’t get it. There was improvement, no doubt, but a lot of questions still linger. Why did one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA connect on 52.9% of their threes? After promising to “shake things up,” why did Mark Jackson’s rotation contract even tighter — with Curry, Thompson, Jack and Lee all playing 36 or more minutes? Why does the team’s focus seem to break down whenever they hit a couple of shots in a row, with the game devolving into ill-advised passes and heat-check threes rather than the patient and smooth execution from earlier in the season? This type of performance may cut it against the Suns (although just barely), but it will be a recipe for further disaster against the Spurs and on the road next week.

Still, the Warriors won a must-win game, so it’s not fair to be all doom and gloom. These positives stood out:

Klay Thompson responded to trade rumors (and the public airing of doubts about his future potential) with one of the best offensive games of his year. He was unstoppable early from the field and found ways to contribute when his shooting slowed down. He still made his usual share of face-palm-inducing plays, but it was encouraging to see Thompson assert himself in the face of adversity rather than simply fade into the background. Consistency is still the key for Thompson. Can he repeat this performance Friday night against the Spurs? Will he be a factor game-in, game-out when the team hits the road next week? Assuming Thompson is still a Warrior tomorrow evening — and by most accounts it sounds like he will be — we’ll have 28 more games to evaluate how Thompson is maturing and just how talented he can be with a bit more seasoning.

Jarrett Jack played the final 20 minutes of the game without a break. That should give you a sense of how badly Jackson wanted this win and how precarious it was even into the fourth quarter. Jack elevated his game given the significance. He was the one player consistently giving top effort during the losing streak, and this game was no different. He hit big shot after big shot, spread the ball around on offense and did a decent job on the defensive end. It was encouraging to see the Warriors experimenting with the fourth quarter offense flowing through Curry and Bogut, freeing Jack to be more of a shooter when match-ups called for it. That versatility should serve the Warriors well against better opponents.

Stephen Curry looked aggressive, both probing the defense in the half-court to create for others and attacking the Suns’ defense for his own looks. That offensive decisiveness is encouraging — other than Jack, the team will look to Curry to make big plays when the game is on the line. He delivered on Wednesday with an all-around excellent fourth quarter (9 points on 4-6 shooting and 2 assists). The Dragic match-up is a good one for Curry, so I would have been worried if he had delivered a dud. The Parker match-up on Friday will be a much more challenging and telling test.

Andrew Bogut bounced back from an admittedly awful performance the night before. He looked more mobile and engaged during his season-high 29 minutes. He was a force on defense, blocking and changing shots, but also helped the Warriors at the other end by stabilizing the team during the Suns’ final push. Bogut’s patience and ball-movement salvaged a few busted plays and helped the Warriors get much-needed points. He was able to create something from nothing thanks to his tremendous vision and anticipation. The question hanging over Bogut’s performance is whether he’s getting faster as he plays more or whether the Suns’ big men were simply slower than the ones Bogut struggled to contain the past few games. As Bogut gets his legs under him, hopefully there will be more of the blocked shots and point-blank stops like the ones that triggered Warriors’ runs against the Suns.

David Lee stuffed the box score on Wednesday night. His performance was less spectacular than the numbers suggest, but it was still a nice all-around game. He hit a few important shots and seemed to be making an effort to stay focused on defense. There were still some lapses — an unguarded jumper given up because Lee wasn’t paying attention to his man; a lay-up given up when Lee watched a cutter roll down the lane rather than step into his path to divert him or take a charge — but he also had some nice stops against tough match-ups. The one universally praise-worthy aspect of Lee’s game was his passing. Whether working the ball around the outside or trading interior passes with Bogut, Lee seemed to trigger a few bursts of the (new) old Warriors — a team defined by crisp, unselfish ball movement that works for better shots than its opponent, not just pull-up threes early in the shot-clock. If Lee is going to be a leader, he needs to find ways to consistently spark those fluid periods of superior ball movement.

Carl Landry didn’t log many minutes, but Wednesday’s game marked the return of the highly-efficient bench scorer that Warriors fans embraced in the first half of the season. Jackson used Landry in the rotation differently, with him playing more as a replacement for Lee than another big to slide in next to him. Landry’s line (10 points and 6 rebounds in 14 minutes) is a testament to just how much he was able to accomplish with the Warriors running no more than a play or two for him. Beyond the statistics, Landry’s energy during his third quarter run was a key factor in the Warriors finally gaining some separation.

Ultimately, this is one of those victories that shouldn’t be over or under-sold. One shaky win against a mediocre team doesn’t put all the questions to rest, but it could serve as the stabilizing moment the team needs to regain some confidence and composure. At the very least, not heading into a confrontation with Popovich and the Spurs while carrying a seven game losing streak is worth something. There were things worth building upon in Wednesday’s win, but there’s still a lot of work to be done for the Warriors to regain the momentum they were riding a month ago.

Adam Lauridsen

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Divac and Webber was my first comment after the game too !! Bogut is very much like Divac with passing. He doesn’t score like Divac but passing and rebounding is similar to Divac and to add, Bogut is a shot blocker/defender and Divac was never one.

I yiyi yi

Purv, if Hbarnes is true to form then he will have a monster game on Friday. One step forward one step back or is it versa visa? And that might be nice to see. He is due for one of his “Big” games

I like Barnes’ last game still. He tried to get to the basket and he just ran into Gortat and a revived Oneal.

He is doing what he is supposed to do. attack the basket with force.
getting blocked is not my concern.
He will learn.

I want him keep doing what he has been doing. And more, I want him to move off the ball like Klay more. Sometimes he stayed at the arc in the right corner too much.

Wilson

Jack is a clutch offensive player but he’s the worst Warrior in terms of overhelping and leaving his man wide open for threes. Why can’t the fool correct that? He does very little good down low on defense. Stay with your guy!

bryhsiao

btw, how can 6-1 combo guard Telfair get Suns 7-2 Hadaddi??

Man, weird trades all around.

I am now very interested to see how Bucks rotate Ellis/Jennings/Redick.
3 guards line up? 6-3 speedy guards at PG/SG/SF? so much firepower.

(100)if barnes looked jilted, it must have been directed at himself. as a starting wing, his defense and boards aren’t so stellar that he doesn’t need to score, and he was 1-7 with four of those misses coming from getting snuffed by that ferocious Phx front line. can only hope he was infected by that flu virus they say bogut had in UT — but if others catch it they’re headed for a tough 7-10 days ahead.

(102) yes, we should expect at least one strong game out of three from barnes, but is that acceptable for a starting 3 on a legit playoff contender ? semi-legit, o.k. the team probably goes about .500 in the remaining games and if jefferson doesn’t step up, the roller coaster stuff from barnes and thompson at the wings is one of the limitations.

bryhsiao

Or maybe we should trade Barnes for this SF before the trade deadline?

I think this monster dunk may be better than all the dunks Barnes had in combine?

1. Curry was everything you’d want him to be last night, and more. And the “more” is the problem: Jax simply can’t keep playing him 40+ minutes a game and have him be worth anything in late season. The Kid gave his all last night — including nine Q4 points and those two buckets for five with three minutes left (one, a left handed bank shot, the other, a three off the dribble — Wow!) — but if you caught his face at the end you’d know he had zilch left.

3. KT finally played three strong quarters — tho Q4 remains as his huge Achilles Heel. Still, a super first half, and a nice Q3.

And tho Gordon is a nice piece he’s got two huge problems: he’s too small and he’s too expensive — way too expensive. I’d much rather keep Klay — for now, at least.

4. Jack. Wow! Gotta keep him, for sure.

5. DLee was still a defensive weakness overall, but he definitely was much better than he’d been the last six-eight games.

—

Great Board today. Col was really humming there. Nice to see gmoney back (and didya catch my report, a few threads back, about the Niner coaches pretty much concluding Jenkins is a wuss, afraid to go over the middle, and generally out of shape? Maybe they’ll parlay for either Ertz or Allen, two nice local guys).

And, of course, the usual suspects are all in top form again today. BTW, bry, I’m with you about getting Leslie from SC. Sorry to see Jenkins go, but Jax had buried him, and his confidence from last year was shot.

Finally, meir: Nice pull re the lux tax effects — tho we were down in Chump-Change-Ville with the Jenkins-Tyler dumps. Sorry you seem to have missed Curry’s game last night — it was just what you’ve always been wanting: drives, A/TO ratio way up there, leadership, clutch baskets, Q4 prowess, etc.

OTOH, I sure hope you missed Monta’s game last night as well.

bryhsiao

JSL,
great post overall.

I think Meir wanted the Power drive. Although, I think Curry had at least 5 nice drives with connecting floaters. (some drives did not land the layup but created opening for tipins by our bigs)

Maybe that drive with a left hand soft floater after getting pushed by Dragic should be considered a power drive??
btw I think it should be an And1.

Meir, in case you missed the game.

Steve’s post at @6 with entended clips will definitely make you smile. It covered pretty much every important plays.

It’s crazy that Bucks is currently 1 game below .500 and firmly at 8th spot.
And Philly at 9th is 8 game below .500.

in the big damn EASY EAST.

RickP

Can anybody think of an example of multiple second rounders being traded for a first rounder?

SJ Jim

“Why does the team’s focus seem to break down whenever they hit a couple of shots in a row, with the game devolving into ill-advised passes and heat-check threes rather than the patient and smooth execution from earlier in the season?”

Yes, Adam. This is exactly what frustrates me, and it fits the “Warriors of old” description. It’s that scenario where our team’s “self esteem” was so low that they got uncomfortable when they started to pull away in a game, as if they thought they didn’t belong in that position.

And speaking of this scenario as it pertains to last night, why can’t Klay Thompson make a LAYUP with his RIGHT HAND at moments like that? Instead, Phoenix runs in back at us, hits a 3 in transition, and you get a 5-point swing that ruins a chance for continued momentum and a big(ger) double-digit lead.

Now, I know that because I just said something negative about Klay (which is factual), some sensitive person who can’t stand negativity will jump on me if I don’t add the fact that Klay is a big reason why we won that game. So, there you go, and I recognize that too. A game like this helps to make up for some of the things that have made people start talking about trading this guy…

…but really? You can’t make a layup with your RIGHT hand either? This drives me insane. I don’t care if he’d scored 40 in the first half- you can’t be missing layups over and over like this, even if it’s just your off hand. Afterward, Barnett goes… “That’s something he’ll have to work on in the off-season”. ??? In the “off-season”? How about working on this in practice *during* the season? Like, hopefully right now. Go back to that darkened gym where you shot that “Goodnight Oakland…” spot, turn on the lights, and take someone along who can “guard” you as you practice (and slap you upside the head for every one you miss). 😉

knick

So we finally win a game and some bloggers choose to criticize Mjax over min??? Interestingly, no single warriors player has ever lamented about minutes or lack of playing time. Either these idiots know more basketball than Mjax or they know more about his players than him.

gary

believewhat… you said:

“Did we lose lose Lin because of Jenkins and then lose Jenkins for nothing”?

You just nailed it, BW. Wow. Outstanding comment. And tragic for the dubs. Great for Lin, who made sweet lemonade, out of the lemon we handed him. That’s what an education, hard work and opportunity do when they come together. JLin…now immortal because of Linsanity. Never happen again like it did last year, at least in my lifetime. JLin stills owns NYC, home of Harvard MBAs. Hate to think how much $$$ he’ll make AFTER his NBA career in NYC. How do you spell “billionaire”?

Interesting that Bucks p/u JJ Redick. Of course, somebody in their backcourt is leaving. JJR… NCAA player of the year… and he’s improved his NBA game every year since Duke. Smart move by Bucks, IMHO.

Our new 2nd round picks? OMG, this is an awful draft year. We need a huge amount of luck.

Bring on TLeslie from SCW. Let’s see what he can do at the combo 1/2. Or do we see more Baze … and TLeslie leads cheers? Whatever. Expect 35 min out of SC, KT, and JJack. Never see either Baze or TL… since the preacher doesn’t rote-tate very well. Oh well, there’s always garbage time.

Believewhat at #96 – I totally agree. I think that the Warriors showed they plan on re-signing Jack this off-season by letting Jenkins walk. It is also great for Charles Jenkins’s career, as he will see playing time in Philly. I wish him the best!

You are also right in that they will likely not re-sign Landry (although I believe he is contracted through next season no?). The biggest void on this roster continues to be a back-up PF, as Landry disappeared around Christmas.

Purvis @ #100 – Great idea on Barnes. He might be more assertive as a 6th man at this point, and look for his own shot more often with the main wing scorers off the floor. He could fill the role left vacant by Rush’s injury. I wonder if he would feel slighted being taken out of the starting line-up? I think RJ could handle it, and the initial substitution might be pretty early in the game. He made a great play last night that garnered us an extra possession and was benched right after. I’d be pissed too.

No word yet on the condition of those picks? Tyler was a throw-away imo, but Philly got a quality asset in Jenkins. I hate to see assets go away for nothing but more money in Lacob’s pocket. I trust this FO so far, but want details. It does seem like these were good moves that increase off-season flexibility. I have to say I have a man-crush on Bob Myers for what he has done with this roster, and am hopeful for the future.

gary

NCDub,

Did you see JSloan at the Utah game? He looked 80, not 71.

1,000,000+ air miles and B2Bs will do that to you!

Would rather promote Malone. Experience. Brains. No stripper girl friends that I know of 😉 Hey, Chris L brought this up, not me!

moto

(118)it’s landry’s choice, with a player’s option, to stay at the agreed sum for another season or not. it’s his agent’s job to find another team who will pay him more and for multiple years. jack has even a better situation as an unrestricted free agent and plenty of teams scuffling for lead guards.

Believewhat

Rickp,

‘While second-rounders obviously don’t have the same value as first-rounders, acculumulating multiple late picks can be valuable. Last season, for instance, the Cavaliers used two second-rounders to work out a trade with the Mavericks that saw Cleveland move up seven spots in the first round.’

Also, I remember it was spurs or some team traded late first round pick for 2nd rounder because for first rounder they must pay while for 2nd rounder they don’t have to pay and something like that.

Anyway, if Sam Amick is right, we don’t have any 2nd round picks.

Steve

@25 Scotch, I looked around but couldn’t find any iso shots of that ridiculously tough shot by Steph. If I find something later I’ll be sure and post it for you. In the meantime, I did “cue up” that shot from those extended highlights I posted earlier.

I’ve been thinking about Barnes, and how he’s practically a decoy out there on offense for long stretches. It seems to me that he’s left out too much, which can only negatively impact his effectiveness when he finally gets the ball.

Here are some current stats. Just for comparison, let’s use Klay…

Avg # of shots per minute played:
Barnes: .247
Thompson: .410

FG%:
Barnes: .441
Thompson: .421

gary

Watching Spurs crush the Clips. Now halftime.

Hope that everyone on this board knows why Pop is successful. Look him up on wiki. Who gets into the USAF Academy? Only the best.

One word: Brains

Another word(s): Coaching Experience

There is no substitute. Good players help, of course. But look at some other teams in the west w/talent. Then look at coaching quality / experience. Enough said.

Go dubs.

Steve

Golden State needed to shave approximately $1.2 million from its cap figure to prevent paying the luxury tax. In ridding itself of Tyler and Jenkins, the team will save about $1.5 million. In exchange, the Warriors will receive a reported pair of second-round picks in the 2013 draft, but general manager Bob Myers elected not to discuss the terms of the picks.

“We were not under a mandate to get under the tax,” Myers said. “The only mandate that I’m operating under, and our group is operating under, is to win. We made this decision more for basketball reasons than economic reasons.”

By staying under the tax, the Warriors will not be subjected to classification as a repeater next year.

“Every year you’re in the tax you risk being called a repeater,” Myers said. “We’re possibly going to be a tax-paying team next year with the roster we have and wanting to improve the team.”

The moves leave about $294,000 for the team to spend on a player for the rest of the season. A potential free agent signed to a pro-rated minimum would allow the team to stay below luxury tax.

“We wanted the flexibility to have the opportunity to add a player in the next week or two – which we can do – that’ll help the team and not go back into the tax,” Myers said. “There are a lot of players out there now and maybe come available if bought out that we hope we can look at – and if one makes sense, we can add them.”

I believe that the reason Fitz has not been going on the
road games is related to a family matter –this has been ongoing for a while…hopefully everything is well with his family.

Tim Roye has been doing the play-by-play with Jim Barnett.

Dubcakes

Sad to see Charles Jenkins go….hope he does well with Doug Collin’s group.

dr_john

There’s no “repeater” rate this year or next.

The only teams paying at repeater rate in 2014-15 must have been in the tax all three previous years. The Warriors will not have Jefferson/Biedrins salaries, perhaps not even Bogut. They can be in the tax and not pay as a repeater.

After that it depends on which years comprise 3 of the previous 4. The Warriors were smart not to jeopardize the team 4 years down the road, when they should be more competitive than today, over two players who do not play for good reason.

I yiyi yi

Good point Jim, Coach not drawing up for him plays? Not sure that RJef would be much better, as he seems to only have it every couple of games as well. Still I like it when he is aggressive. Also I agree that Klay needs to man up, but both are still kinda young…Right, But upside only goes so far. I want to like them both and sometime I do, but man when they stink, they smell up the whole team.

How much will we have to pay to keep JJack? and when is the MVP of the D league coming up? Might light a fire under Klays a$$

I yiyi yi

Doc, Are the Lakers in that positions? Is there any other teams in that position? Reason I say that, Myers just said that he thinks there are good players out there and kinda reading between the line it seems he has his eye on some one.

I got a buddy who is a SF building inspector who tells me the scuttlebut around the office is that the new stadium is DOA.

Warriors ownership, keen on taking advantage of the team’s current quality, has embarked on an ambitious plan to build a state-of-the-art, billion-dollar arena on the San Francisco waterfront. While the plan is admirable, the goal of a new arena by 2017 is quickly becoming a daunting task. Several physical, legal, and competitive issues have arisen, making the project more complicated than initially foreseen.

Save the Bay, an organization dedicated to preserving San Francisco’s view of the bay, is opposed to the new arena. Former San Francisco mayor Art Agnos said, “We have to protect or precious asset. To put that structure over the water and destroy the advances that we’ve made in that part of the city would be an abomination.”

I hope they can do it…. but in SF politics is not for the faint of heart.

Coltraning

Well, you’ve got to say that Parker, Duncan and Manu are going to be well rested for tomorrow night. I’m going to the game and can’t wait!

moto

(133) understandable if hoops is all important for fans for those fans to think the water top proposal should go through, but it will degrade and blemish a natural resource and community space irreversibly, enriching plutocrats with big subsidies from the county and state governments who are supposed to protect the interests of all, not just bidness and mega million development schemes that serve the privileged. the working people who get jobs in the construction or concessions or parking will still get them on a dry land site.

if you look at lacob’s history, he loves making $$ from other peoples dreams — from the very beginning, he delayed the league approval for the ownership change because he was recruiting more partners to limit his debt liability. he used the amnesty on bell, whose deal was expiring the same year anyway, rather than on biedrins, again minimizing his liability. could re-hash more, but if fans want to trust him with the defacement of the area’s distinctive natural feature, it’s a free country (unless you want to watch n.b.a hoops of course).

Slimman

I yiyiy yi – I think they forgot to pay someone off. I love how a neighborhood NIMBY group names themselves as if it were an environmental group, which it is not. They just need to pay more bribes. I’m sure it will happen. The City would be stupid to let that revenue get away.

Steve

The Warriors head to Indy next week. Interesting read from USA TODAY on attendance problems (and a possible link to racism).

Hope I’m not a boo-bird as far as JAX is concerned. Don’t mean to be. All I’m saying is that I’d like him to stay, given he’s made some obvious improvements in the remaining games.. Minutes for good performance, creativity on the fly, HB to temporary 6th. man (?), use of TO’s, fewer minutes so as to have gas in the tank in Q4etc. Stuff which might go well or not–stuff which could be tried as soon as SA tonight.

Also…I agree with some that the team has performed above expectations even under adversity. So he’s done a lot right. I thought I was being reasonable to pull for him to remain at least to the end of the season before making judgments. That’s all. I know I did say I’d take Sloan ASAP if he were available. But he probably won’t be. (sorry to gary if he looks 80+ years old). 🙂 Also sorry if I’ve not stated my views clearly, to agree or disagree with certainly, but not to do so out of context. And of course not to offend. 🙂

NCDub

PS to above

I’m also virtually certain that we lose Malone after this year, making it possibly much tougher on JAX. Hope JAX earns his continuation. Hope Malone somehow stays as well. That’s how I see it–here & above. Think it’s reasonable, loyal, hopeful, etc. Disagreements–bring ’em on! 🙂

I believe the way to slow down Parker, and ultimately the Spurs is to have the ball in Curry’s hands as much as possible and make Parker work extremely hard on defense. Chris Paul had to work so hard on defense that it took him out of his offensive rhythm. Have Bogut play man against Duncan, and put Lee on Splitter, forget the zone D and play man straight up. Thompson should be able to handle Neal, and Barnes on Green is a good match up. We need to be aggressive right out the gate on defense, we have had to many bad starts, falling behind early and working from a hole. Our offense has not been the problem, we need to set the tone early on D, and play with some real passion.

Come on Warriors you can do this!

I yiyi yi

Moto, not saying that monolith is going to happen but there are architectural behemoths that folks seem to love, the opera house in Sydney is the one sited as the inspiration for our proposed new digs. And yeah I would love to go to games in a state of the art building. But as I said, if you don’t have the pols (and I mean most) that run the city forget it. Funny I thought Art Agnos helped with the Giants stadium, does he have one of those views that would go away?

PWW I like your line up for D, and no team is invincible but SA is pretty close. With Pop it is always tough.

Should be fun if we can stay close or if we can manage a lead.

Go Warriors

NCDub

#144 PWW:

A bit of Ezele would help too, plus a few active minutes from Bieds–say 10 apiece or so & to spell Bogut & keep Lee @ PF w/ a C always on the floor. We need bodies against SA low & that’s now what we have! Make SA’s guards pay in the lane as well–nothing easy with a few bumps & grinds early to get them thinking.

JanG

Wow – Knicks now have Kenyon Martin, JR Smith, and Rasheed Wallace, on the same team. Trade TChandler for Cousins and the Knicks would need a full time psychiatrist. They probably already have web-based bill pay with the NBA for all the fines they’ve been incurring.

I yiyi yi

JanG they will either implode or win the championship, me I hoping for the impending imploding. But if any of them have any gas left in the tank they will be nasty.

It seems too many teams roll into Oaktown with no fear of going into the lane, I’m not advocating cheap shot fouls, but as you said ‘get them thinking’ with some real hard play.

It seemed we played that way against the Clippers earlier this year, with a chip on our shoulders and the aggressive attitude payed off.

The passion for playing defense has been solely lacking, someone needs to light a fire under our butts. I thought Lee was that guy earlier, but he seems to have lost some fire in his belly recently.

I yiyi yi

I’d like to see what My Guy Dray can do against Splitter and Festus against Duncan as well, maybe 10-12 minutes worth, with the caveat if they aren’t getting it done then a quick pull. Just want some real energy from our guys all the way around.